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Pope Out Of Danger, Talk Turns To Return Home

Published

6 months ago

March 11, 2025

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Pope Francis was reported to be in good spirits Tuesday after the Vatican declared he was out of danger and could even be discharged in the near future after almost one month in hospital with pneumonia.

The 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14 with pneumonia in both lungs and has suffered several respiratory crises that sparked real fear for his life.

But after a week of steady improvements, the Holy See on Monday evening said his prognosis was no longer considered “reserved”, or uncertain — meaning his life is no longer at risk.

His condition remains complex and he will require hospital treatment for “several more days”, it added — with the implication that after that, he could go home to the Vatican.

A Vatican source on Tuesday denied, however, that preparations were under way for his return to the Santa Marta residence, indicating his discharge was not imminent.

Francis missed the start of the Lent religious period last week.

Speculation is now growing as to whether he may be able to participate in celebrations for Easter, the holiest period in the Christian calendar which culminates on April 20.

Simonetta Maronge, an employee of the Santa Marta, urged the pope to come home soon.

“May he return to Santa Marta soon, we deeply love him and Santa Marta is empty without him,” she told AFP outside the Gemelli hospital.

– Prayers and meditation –

The Vatican source said Tuesday that the pope’s spirits were “good”.

The press office said he had that morning prayed in the private chapel next to the papal suite on the 10th floor of the hospital, and that he had taken part remotely in spiritual exercises — prayers and meditation — in the Vatican.

The Vatican has been giving twice-daily updates on the pope’s health, but these have been reduced since he has improved, and no formal bulletin was expected Tuesday evening.

“The improvements recorded in the previous days have been further consolidated, as confirmed by blood tests and clinical objectivity and the good response to pharmacological therapy,” the Vatican said in a statement Monday evening.

“For these reasons, the doctors have decided today to lift their reserved prognosis.”

It added that “given the complexity of the pope’s clinical picture and the severe infection present at the time of hospitalisation, it will still be necessary to continue pharmacological treatment in a hospital setting for several more days”.

– Video games –
The pontiff has been doing some work off and on during his hospitalisation, making calls and having occasional visitors, the Vatican says.

One child treated in Rome’s Bambino Gesu hospital, which is also run by the Vatican, sent him a message offering another way to pass the time.

“Dear Pope, I suggest you get someone to give you a PlayStation,” young Alex wrote, according to pictures and drawings released by Bambino Gesu.

Pilgrims visiting Rome for the 2025 Jubilee holy year celebrations have been praying every night for the pope, while special services have been held in churches around the world.

Mimmo Laundando, an Italian pensioner who was at the Gemelli hospital on Tuesday, expressed the hopes of many that Francis would recover, saying he was sorely needed.

“I am hopeful, I think there is really a need for a pope like Francis for all of us, for the whole world,” he said.

Laundando added that he had always dreamed of being the pontiff’s chauffeur, adding: “Now I am here with the car with the idea that maybe if he needs to, I can drive him back.”

Pope Francis will on Thursday mark 12 years as leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics.

Even as he recovers, his hospitalisation — the longest and most serious of his papacy — has revived questions about his future.

The Jesuit has always held open the possibility of resigning like his predecessor, the German Benedict XVI, although he also insisted he had no intention of quitting.

Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

6 hours ago

August 24, 2025

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Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

Headline

Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

7 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

7 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP